ARLINGTON, Texas – Given his unique perch as a voting member of the College Football Playoff’s management committee, Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick’s views on possible expansion of the bracket carry more weight than most in his position.

And echoing the recent statements from several conference commissioners he joins in those meetings, Swarbrick said Thursday that while he’s satisfied with how the system has worked with four teams, he’s not opposed to exploring change.

“You’ve got to be open as a business to looking at your business,” Swarbrick told USA TODAY Sports. “It doesn’t mean that there’s a need to change or that there’s momentum to change, but every business should examine itself and the core elements of what it does. We have an obligation to do that. And so I don’t think you can ever say we’re not going to have a discussion.

“That doesn’t mean anything’s gonna change. It doesn’t mean there’s momentum for that. But I do think you’ve got to be open to having discussions like that.”
Swarbrick’s comments, made at media day for the upcoming playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, were similar to those made by others this month.

“Four works,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said. “It was hard to get to four with lots of compromises. We should be thoughtful, but shouldn’t refuse to discuss.”

But it seems likely the management committee, during its regularly scheduled meeting in conjunction with the College Football Playoff’s national championship game, will at least examine how the format has worked in the first five years of a 12-year contract. That doesn’t mean they’ll move toward an eight-team bracket – yet – though many feel expansion is inevitable at some point. Among the points likely to be discussed that fall short of expansion, as one example: Whether or how the criteria for selecting the four participants should be tweaked.

But put another way by an insider, the management committee is likely to consider the idea of considering the idea of change. As Swarbrick put it, there’s an openness for self-examination – and that in itself is a change.

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